I just love this game. I've never actually written anything on a game before. This game makes me want to do so.It's cheap and amazing. The fact that the graphics are a little old doesn't deter me at all.Do I wish they were better? Yes.Is it far less important than the amazing game play? Yes.

An amazing unrecognized innovation in the rts/grand strategy genre. Part of a golden age of the last generation of pc strategy games when the 2d formula had been refined refined and innovation was the order of the day. For some unfortunate reason these wonderful games had mixed results in the next generation, think Stronghold, Empire Earth, Kohan 2, etc.

Simplified but good resource and city management, very refined squad level controls with a fully functional experience, moral, and terrain system. Enough rpg elements to make things customizable but not too involved or important to distract you from the larger strategic picture. Wonderful classic pc fantasy style graphics. One of the features that still impresses me about this game today is that you can play on huge maps with tons of other players on a robust random map generator, this makes almost every game feel unique. Lots of factions and ways to play the game, if you are enjoy strategy games at all, pick this one up.

If you're a fan of RTS games this one is a doozy. It is a nice break from the regular population limit and generating resources model and instead you create companies and use cities to generate + or - levels of a resource. Companies and outposts cost resource levels and if you go negative you lose gold over time. With the addition of heroes and leveling and varied units it's certainly worth your time.

KAG is my favorite RTS. I've been playing it since it came out in 2001 and only recently downloaded the Steam version to connect with friends who had lost their CDs (I have one signed by the devs... I know, I'm a KAG geek).

It has some of the most dynamic AI and gameplay of its day, and games never feel old to me no matter how many times I play them. I really enjoy the company dynamics, the presence of techs, and the way you can create your own units, maps, and AIs to customize the game to your taste (look up KMod if you're interested). In fact, my partner and I have created 7 epic campaigns that we play all the time, each featuring different Kohan and types of challenges. Tinkering with AIs is also great fun (look for The Awakening fan site to download tons).

Anyway, I recommend KAG if you like retro games and want to try something different. Have fun!

A game that was released back in 2001, yet still has people going back to play (in fact, there is still a small but active MP community which still plays this game!)That alone says how good of an RTS it is.

In fact, it amazes me that no RTS has been released since that combines what Kohan does (although the Dawn of War series comes close, it was a lot more about micromanaging battes and how fast you can click to activate special abilities).

Key concepts:- city management, and the cities generate all your resources- company based combat structure, where companies can heal back to full health over time (as long as even 1 unit survives and returns to your bases).- companies and heroes both level up and become more powerful and stronger- once units enter combat, you not longer have control of the unit (barring retreat and rout). This severely reduces the effect of "microing" (clicking like a madman). It also makes battle tactics like flanking to kill enemy support units much deadlier.

If there's one con to this game, it's that it has a default resolution and doesn't support widescreen (stretches out the images, making them look ugly).

What is it about this game that makes it so good? The random maps? The squad-based controls? The RPG elements? The city-building component? Micromanagement that's fun and not overwhelming? Good co-op play?

I wanted to play an old classic but this is not what it seems. I simply cannot get the game to work on my monitor. The resolution requriments are so off-the wall that I can no longer run the game anywhere above 3 frames per second. It's unplayable for me. Be careful if you are looking to buy this game on anything at or above windows 7. This game is best played on windows xp or an older operating system. Now I am sad.

Units are grouped into companies which must be carefully crafted, can be lead by a hero, and will stay with you throughout the game, gaining experience and so forth. Smart design calls such as stationary units gain a defensive advantage if they stay in the same spot over a long period of time, as well as the retreat/rout/morale system and zone of control means that positioning is very important in Kohan. Additionally, terrain plays a huge role, as different terrains have very large effects on combat and movement, and natural chokepoints are crucial to hold for similar reasons.

Cities are condensed into single buildings, which house a number of 'component slots' that are filled by buildings, and again the design forces careful economic planning, for instance focusing on gold income for the long-run or pumping out valuable resources such as iron to fuel a war effort. Resources in the game are not cumulative besides gold-- meaning that you are rarely encouraged to sit back and do nothing in the game.

The game also comes with several large campaigns, a random map generator, a custom scenario editor, fairly competent AI (with the ability to make your own / download them online), and extensive modding tools. There are a huge number of heroes, secret technologies and monsters to keep the game fresh game after game after game.

Besides this glowing review, I would point out two flaws:

1. A faltering online community. The game is old, and few people play anymore.

2. The game is somewhat unbalanced. While the game is usually tight, there are a few degenerate situations, and on very large maps the game is very unbalanced. However, you can play on very small maps to fix that, and much of the game imbalance can be addressed via modding; personally, I advise a mod which increases the gold penalties for going negative with your resources, as well as making resources scarcer.

Still, it is a game worth playing, and better than its successor. I hope we see a worthy sequel someday.